Adverse weather forced the Missouri Tigers’ Spring Game indoors Saturday, but the swirling winds couldn’t blow Triston Newson off course, nor could the wind chill freeze his red-hot ascent up the Tigers’ spring depth chart. The JUCO product they call “Big Country” is making a big impression early in his Missouri career.
Triston Newson Continues To Impress During Missouri Spring Game
The weather might have been chilly enough to force the Missouri Spring Game inside Devine Pavilion, but the performance of former Northeast Mississippi Community College linebacker Newson was enough to warm the hearts of Tigers fans desperate for some success in the 2023 college football season.
Newson was the spark plug for a defensive performance that far overshadowed an offense that has been the primary focus for the Tigers this offseason. While there were flashes from Luther Burden III and quarterback Sam Horn, the defense routinely suffocated with the former JUCO linebacker the star of the show.
MORE: Spring Quarterback Battles To Watch
The highlight play of the spring scrimmage saw Newson get a jump on a slant route, corralling the pass from Horn into his hands and taking it in the opposite direction for a pick-six. It might only be spring camp, but the new Missouri linebacker’s ability to make plays on the ball is already being noticed.
“He always gets the ball,” teammate Darius Robinson said of Newson’s impact on the Missouri defense through spring practice so far. “He’s got like four or five picks so far in spring ball.”
Newson Showcasing His Turnover Ability Early for Missouri
It’s hardly surprising that Newson is already showcasing his ability to be a turnover machine for his new team. During his final season with the NEMCC Tigers, the 6’2″, 225-pound LB logged four pass breakups and three interceptions.
Meanwhile, he’s third amongst all JUCO players with 107 total tackles, 12 of which were for loss with two sacks and four forced fumbles. Newson was named the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference Defensive Player of the Year while earning NJCAA Division I first-team All-American honors.
Behind the numbers lies a top-tier athlete whose athleticism jumps off his JUCO tape. Within those interception numbers, there are eye-catching, gravity-defying, contortionistic feats symptomatic with some of the most elite playmaking cornerbacks.
His ability to use that athleticism and combine it with play recognition has allowed him to be a dangerous force in both the passing and ground games. Newson’s ability to locate the ball carrier is as impressive as the mentality and motor that is evident from his time at Northeast Mississippi CC.
Newson Impressing Staff After Transferring From Northeastern Mississippi CC
It hasn’t gone unnoticed since joining Missouri. The 2023 JUCO recruit held offers from 17 CFB programs, including Colorado, Indiana, and Washington State but committed to the Tigers in late November. Newson’s already turning heads, with head coach Eliah Drinkwitz praising his new linebacker even before his standout performance in the spring game.
“I’m going to tell you right now,” Drinkwitz told 247 Sports’ College Football Today, “Triston Newson, a junior college linebacker, is playing absolutely like a wild man at that linebacker position, and he plans on competing.”
Competing seems to be in Newson’s blood. While he’s already showing his ability in Missouri’s spring camp, he had to get to the SEC the hard way. Newson spent three seasons at Northeast Mississippi CC after being unranked by the major recruiting sites following his high school football career at Independence. That included a lost year due to the global pandemic.
As his former JUCO coach explained to the Daily Journal last year, everything that he’s got coming to him, he made himself.
“Triston has not been given anything. He’s earned it,” Tigers head coach Greg Davis said. “There’s something special about that young man.”
MORE: 2023 SEC Weekly Football Schedule
Northeast Mississippi has an excellent track record of sending standout defensive players to the SEC. Most notably, Sam Williams learned his craft there before transferring to Ole Miss, and Newson’s NJCAA All-American accolade put him in good company with the now Dallas Cowboys defensive standout.
While predicting a similar trajectory is a little lofty at this stage of spring practice, the voices inside of Missouri are getting considerably louder about what Newson can bring to this Tigers’ football team this fall.
“On the field, he’s very technical and fundamental and wants to do it the right way,” Missouri linebacker coach D.J. Smith told Power Mizzou even in advance of the Tigers’ spring game. “He’s really explosive, fast, and twitchy. He has a really high ‘FBI,’ which is what we call football IQ. He’s a very smart player.”
“Off the field, we call him ‘Big Country.’ He has a big smile and wears cowboy boots. He’s old school and easygoing. He’s very fun to talk to and a great guy to be around.”
It seems the man they call Big Country is making a big impression on Missouri football so far this spring.
